Deadly gas attack in rebel-held Douma, in Syria's eastern Ghouta

The global chemical watchdog said Tuesday it will deploy a team to the site of an alleged toxic attack in Syria, as U.S. President Donald Trump weighed military action with Damascus on high alert.

Warnings from the U.S. leader there would be a “big price to pay” for the alleged attack have raised the specter of an American strike on Syria, setting up a potential confrontation with regime backer Russia.

Moscow, which has troops on the ground in Syria, has already warned that US military action would be “very, very dangerous”.

As it looked to head off the threat of Western strikes, Syria said it had invited the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to visit the site of the alleged attack.

First responders in rebel-held Douma say more than 40 people died on Saturday after the suspected gas attack, which left victims wheezing, with discolored skin, and foaming at the mouth. (AFP)